Forty-five-minute documentary on the making of the film
(47:01)•
Trailer (2:10)•
PLUS: An essay
by film scholar and critic Nico Baumbach

DVD of the feature with all
the extras of the BD

Bitrate:

Description: Abbas Kiarostami has spent his incomparable
career exploring the spaces that separate illusion from
reality and the simulated from the authentic. At first, his
extraordinary and sly Like Someone in Love, which finds the
Iranian director in Tokyo, may appear to be among his most
straightforward films. Yet with this simple story of the
growing bond between a young student and part-time call girl
and a grandfatherly client, Kiarostami has constructed an
enigmatic but crystalline investigation of affection and
desire as complex as his masterful Close-up and
Certified Copy
in its engagement with the workings of
the mercurial human heart.

The Film:

Celebrated Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami takes the helm for this
richly textured drama set in Tokyo, and centered on the unusual
relationship between an elderly professor and a pretty student
moonlighting as a high-class call girl. Arriving at Takashi (Tadashi
Okuno)'s home late one night, Akiko (Rin Takanashi) is surprised when
her client shows more interest in cooking and conversation than he does
in sex. The following morning, Takashi offers to drive Akiko to class.
When the pair crosses paths with Akiko's intensely jealous boyfriend
(Ryo Kase), they simply go along with his assumption that Takashi is
Akiko's grandfather. Meanwhile, this slight deception begins to color
Takashi and Akiko's future interactions while yielding some unexpected
repercussions.

Abbas Kiarostami’s last film ‘Certified
Copy’ – perhaps his greatest commercial success, thanks in no
small part to the presence of Juliette Binoche – was the first fiction
feature he’d made outside his native Iran. ‘Like Someone in Love’, named
after an Ella Fitzgerald song that features in the film, is the second.

Shot entirely in Japanese with Japanese actors in Tokyo, the film is
eccentric even by Kiarostami’s standards. A brief synopsis of the plot’s
premise makes it sound straightforward enough: a young student having
trouble with money, exams, a visiting grandmother and a jealous
boyfriend, is reluctantly persuaded by the bar owner who acts as her
pimp to visit an elderly man of – it’s said – some import. But right
from the opening scene, in which it’s impossible for a while to tell
who’s speaking (it’s the girl, offscreen), what's evident is that
Kiarostami is once again taking an intriguingly oblique approach to his
material.

Image : NOTE:The below
Blu-ray
captures were taken directly from the
Blu-ray
disc.

Like Someone in Lovelooks perfect
on
Blu-ray
from Criterion. The image quality is very strong with
super tight lines. This
is dual-layered with a max'ed out bitrate and we can guess
that it is an excellent representation of the film. Contrast
is layered and the
Blu-rayprovides a
consistently pristine presentation. It is in the original 1.66:1 aspect ratio and
there are instances of depth and no noise. This
Blu-ray
has no discernable weaknesses and supplies a flaw-less 1080P
presentation.

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY
CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

Audio :

Criterion audio
transfer is as adept as its video rendering. We get a DTS-HD Master in
5.1 surround at 2574 kbps (as indicated by my software). NOTE:
Criterion's website says 3.0 and only 3 channels of the 5 may be
functioning - most probably the case. This is an almost entirely
dialogue-driven film experience and aside from some bar-restaurant
background noises and the car sequences - there is no crispness or
agression separation-wise. But there is some depth when called upon.
There is no defining music, per-se. The original Japanese dialogue is
clear and clean. There are
optional English subtitles and m

Criterion
include a 47-minute documentary from 2012 entitled 'Making of Like
Someone in Love'. It goes behind the scenes via footage shot by
Abbas Kiarostami himself during rehearsals, costume fittings and set
construction. Also featured are interviews with Kiarostami, actors and
crew members.

BOTTOM LINE: Kiarostami films are so... unique. Like Someone in Love is a
beautiful, simple, contemplative and poetic film. Warm,
resonating universal human emotion throughout. The
deliberate pace is embraceable. This is close to another
masterpiece from Kiarostami and an excellent choice for Criterion
to bring to
Blu-ray. Strongly
recommended!

Gary Tooze

April 24th, 2014

About the Reviewer:
Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film
since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was
around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my
horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out
new film experiences. I currently own approximately 9500
DVDs and have reviewed over 5000 myself. I appreciate my
discussion Listserv for furthering my film
education and inspiring me to continue running DVDBeaver.
Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and use our
Amazon links.

Although I never wanted to become one of those guys who
focused 'too much' on image and sound quality - I
find HD is swiftly pushing me in that direction.